Lacking an inscription and identified solely through literary tradition, the building—which can only be dated by comparison—clearly reflects the Mamlūk style of the late thirteenth century, still imbued with the bold vigor of ʾAyyūbid architecture. The entrance portal, set into the southern façade, opens onto an oblong vestibule roofed with two groin vaults. From here, one gains access on the right to a funerary chamber covered by a dome resting on two drums—one eight-sided and the other sixteen-sided, both of stone masonry—and on the left to a groin-vaulted prayer hall, now converted into an office. The façade, constructed of fine dressed-stone masonry without polychromy, features four low windows—two for the turbā and two for the prayer hall—topped by lintels and relieving arches executed in the finest ʾAyyūbid tradition. Framed by a band designed to hold an inscription, the portal is crowned by a vault featuring three tiers of muqarnaṣ topped by a conch.
Gérard Degeorge: Damas des Origines aux Mamluks, l'Harmattan 1997 (p. 342-343).
Plan: Karl Wulzinger & Carl Watzinger. Damaskus, die Islamische Stadt. Walter de Gruyter 1924 (p. 120-121).
Photo credit: K.A.C Creswell.
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